Forest bathing, bug hotels and wildlife spotting…Ben Fogle reveals how to have an eco-friendly half term
IT’S not easy being green but it can be fun, and there’s never been a more important time to get out and reconnect with nature.
As world leaders gather in Glasgow for the COP26 climate change conference, we can all play our part.
If lockdown has taught us one thing, it is that we must embrace the outdoors, as it is good for our mental and physical wellbeing – so disconnect with the digital world and reconnect with nature.
For The Sun’s Green Week, Road To COP26, here are some fun activities you can enjoy with your kids this half term.
Forest bathing
THE Japanese have long embraced the art of forest bathing, or Shinrin yoku, which doesn’t involve getting wet.
Turn off all devices and take your family into a forest or a wood. Wear a warm jacket and sit or lie.
So often we race through life, but forest bathing teaches us the art of slowing down.
Breathe. Smell and observe the smaller details of the environment around you.
You’ll all be amazed at what you start to see.
Most read in The Sun
Create an earth jar
CHANGE begins at home — and here is a great example — the 2021 version of the swear jar.
Every time parents see their children making conscientious green efforts, they can put some money into the jar.
It’s a great way to empower families by rewarding them for their efforts.
And the kids can buy some fun, eco-friendly gifts — or treat themselves — with the cash saved up from their good deeds.
Make a shelter
THERE is nothing more fun for children than making dens and shelters.
If you have a garden with trees, autumn is a great time to make one using the fallen leaves.
Find a very sturdy branch, prop up one end of it against a tree, then lean shorter branches — making sure you use dead wood — on both sides.
Then use the piles of leaves and twigs to cover the frame. Try sleeping in it. You’ll love it.
Upcycled art competition
THIS is a great way to be creative while also reusing and recycling household items.
Using would-be household waste, set a challenge to create the best piece of art — turning trash into treasure.
It’s a great way to highlight the amount of single-use packaging we use, while creating something fun and creative at the same time.
As Christmas approaches, maybe you could have an upcycled festive decoration competition, or even use the waste to make Christmas presents for the whole family.
Make do and mend.
Organise the recycling
ONE of the toughest things is knowing what can and can’t be recycled.
It varies from council to council and some packaging needs to be separated.
It is often to do with the type of plastic used — either thermoplastic or thermosetting.
Thermosetting plastics harden on heating and, once set, cannot be melted again. They are often unrecyclable.
Thermoplastic can be melted and reused.
Research it online and make big, easy-to-read signs to put near the bins — so mum and dad don’t forget.
Summit is a chance to ramp up action
By Stanley Jackson, Sun Wildlife Reporter
THE Sun’s survey on Monday said it all.
The numbers taking measures to reduce their carbon footprint, increase recycling and reduce waste has increased hugely in the past two years. Now, the Sun’s readers argue, is the time for the world’s leaders to follow suit.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating. This weekend the 120 heads of state who will gather in Glasgow for COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, will have a chance to show they are ready to meet the expectations of the people they represent.
The decisions they take can really make a difference, not just for the current generation but for decades, even centuries, to come.
Six years ago the politicians agreed the increase in global temperature should not exceed 2C over pre-industrial levels, and preferably no more than 1.5C.
They pledged to produce individual national programmes to curb emissions to ensure that, once these programmes were put in place, the world would be on target to meet the Paris goals.
This week a United Nations report warned that the world is emitting more CO2 than ever, with record emissions last year.
The overwhelming task facing the world’s leaders in Glasgow is to put the world back on track to meet the Paris goals.
They must prove themselves ready to listen to the revolution of rising environmental expectations.
What is my personal wish list?
No1: That India, China and Australia set out their own detailed plans to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels in the next ten years and achieve them.
No2: That President Bolsonaro of Brazil takes steps to end the tragic wave of deforestation in the Amazon and that similar action is taken in the Congo Basin and the forests of South-East Asia, particularly Indonesia. These forests are the lungs of the planet. If this means we have to stop consuming palm oil and other forest products, so be it.
No3: There is a massive effort to reduce the discharge of plastic waste into the environment, particularly the world’s oceans.
No4: There should be big private investment in a transform-ative economy.
In terms of COP26’s overarching goals, I would like to see the net-zero carbon goal of 2050 formally adopted by the Glasgow meeting, and a strong statement by world leaders on the need to protect forests and nature, and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030.
I would like to see rich nations guarantee adequate funds for poorer nations to adapt to the climate situation which, in so many respects, they themselves have not been responsible for.
Finally, the time has surely come for carbon taxes.
The G7 meeting in Carbis Bay last summer rather missed the opportunity to make this point. Some bracing message from Glasgow on this theme would surely not go amiss.
- Stanley Johnson is International Ambassador for the Conservative Environment Network.
Wildlife spotting
WE love having a task when we are on our walks.
We have some simple guides to flora and fauna and the children love trying to find different animals or plants. It’s like a game that will bring the whole family together.
Bird spotting is great fun. You’ll learn the song and the colours of our feathered friends.
You could even start to keep notes to compare and contrast the changes you have seen.
The RSPB, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and The Wildlife Trusts all have plenty of resources to help.
Make a bug hotel
PERHAPS one of the easiest things we can do is to think about the insects and animals around us.
Where are they? Have we left them enough habitat? A well-built “hotel” can shelter anything from insects to hedgehogs and toads.
You could use any material, from old pallets to bricks and even boxes. Use dead wood, bark and even stones and tiles and you’ll help attract all sorts of creatures into your garden.
You could also make a worm farm or even hatch tadpoles into frogs for a pond.
Plogging
A COMBINATION of jogging and picking up litter, plogging is a great way to exercise and keep healthy while also cleaning the local environment.
If running is too much, you could organise a litter pick. It might be along the street, in the park or on a beach.
I recently took part in a litter pick along the banks of the Thames. I filled my bag within an hour.
It’s a great way to get out and explore while also being green. You could engage with the community and make it something social.
Tell your children’s friends and their families and get everyone to join in.
It’s a brilliant way to get to know the neighbours and strengthen values between local residents.
Wildflower seed bombs
TURN yourself into a “guerilla gardener” by creating seed bombs to bring colour and habitat to your environment.
Mix a cup of seeds with some compost — make sure it’s peat-free because the carbon in peat, when spread over a field or garden, quickly turns into carbon dioxide, adding to greenhouse gas levels.
Mix it all together with a little water to make sure it’s sticky and binds together, then roll it into firm balls. Leave them in a warm place to dry then the fun begins.
Throw them at barren patches of land and see what grows — the bees will be thankful.
Join The Sun's Green Team
THE Sun today encourages its army of readers to make at least one lifestyle change to slow the advance of climate change.
Everyone can get involved.
We’ve teamed up with the global campaign Count Us In to calculate how much carbon you will be saving by ditching old habits.
Remember even small changes help.
Find a step that’s right for you and your family. Keep it up for at least two months and see how you do. It might become a habit.
When you’re ready, try another step. All these will add to change. We’ll get there together.
Visit thesun.co.uk/pledge and pledge to one or more lifestyle changes.
It could save you money and all of your actions will go toward a global goal of getting a billion people to make changes.
1. Eat more plants – Going meat-free for a day brings the same carbon saving as not driving for a month.
2. Cut food waste – The average UK family throws away £700 of food a year.
3. Turn down heating – With energy prices rocketing this will save you money.
4. Insulate your home – Stop heating the sky with heat escaping through your roof.
5. Repair and re-use – We ditch the equivalent of 250 t-shirts a year.
6. Walk or cycle one extra journey a day – petrol cars emit twice as much pollution in their first five minutes of use, so even short journeys add to climate change.